Identification and Grouping of Workers
Welding and metal fabrication is a professional task that is more often than not quite hazardous for the health and physical wellbeing for those who engage in it. This is because liquefied and compressed gases are often used as shielding gases for most welding activities. Some of the hazards that are associated with continuous exposure to compressed gases include asphyxiation, toxicity, fire explosions, uncontrolled pressure release and oxidation. Compressed gas leakage in particular is a huge hazard that can often generate fatal consequences for those who come into contact with it. People who inhale compressed gas in large amounts will suffer from health issues like difficulty in breathing, suffocation and blood poisoning, as the gas when it comes into contact with the lungs will restrict the flow of oxygen to the lungs, making it immediately difficult for the person to breathe adequate (Zhai et al., 2016). Cylinders are often known to contain very large gas volumes and that too under high pressure so it is necessary for precautions to be taken at the time of handling, storing as well as using cylinders (Fthenakis, 2017). This report provides a detailed risk assessment of the work that is done at a welding company in Sydney known as Hopkins Welding. The report outlines how the entire risk assessment process is carried out, including the identification of hazards and concludes with a number of recommendations as to how the exposure to compressed gases as witnessed at this welding company’s site of work can be suitably controlled using a number of protective measures.
The first step that was taken for carrying out a risk assessment process at Hopkins Welding was to divide up the work place. Since it is never really practical to assess a workplace as a whole, and that too for risks, it was decided that the nature of the welding work that takes place at Hopkins Welding would be evaluated into small and more manageable parts such as processes, areas or locations. The work area was divided into small units for risk assessment after looking at process plans or floor plans, and by walking through the workplace.
Workers using similar substances or performing similar welding and fabrication activities were grouped together as a single unit after establishing that the kind of exposure they face to compressed gases is one that is representative of their specific group. Almost all the workers at the Hopkins Welding company are exposed to compressed and liquefied gases, but some are exposed more than others, so the workers were grouped accordingly.
Once the workers were conveniently grouped and once the entire work area was divided into small units of analysis, the workers were interviewed about how they actually do their jobs. There were some workers who stated that they did not adhere to standard operating procedures very strictly when performing their welding tasks, like the wearing of masks when working using shield gases. One reason behind them doing so, it was assumed, was the cumbersome nature of personal protective equipment (Ibrahim, 2015). Attempts were also made to find out about the types of changes that do occur in workplace activities at the time of cleaning, breakdowns and maintenance, as well as during a staff absence or a staff shortage. Special efforts were made to take note of information that was provided about illnesses and diseases that have been experienced by workers upon coming into contact with the poisonous compressed gases (Li et al., 2013).
Interviewing Workers
It was discovered as a result of the risk assessment procedure that gas cylinder explosions do indeed take place from time to time at Hopkins Welding, and those affected are usually the people who are involved in handling these cylinders (Wu et al., 2014). Dangers also arise from specific parts of the gas cylinders that fail and the flying debris that is an inevitable outcome of gas cylinder explosions. People who are situated in close proximity to the gas cylinders are also deeply affected by such explosions as they immediately come into contact with and end up inhaling the toxic gases that are now released into the area (Burlet-Vienney et al., 2015).
There have been incidents of fire breakouts at the Hopkins Welding Center owing to the escape of flammable gases and gaseous fluids from the gas cylinders. Workers have also experienced injuries upon being struck by these gas cylinders from time to time and several manual injuries have been reported, that repeatedly take place due to handling and moving the bulky gas cylinders that contain toxic and dangerous vapors by workers. Some of the injuries are quite severe, are characterized by a lot of bleeding and have reportedly taken weeks and months to heal (Modarres et al., 2016).
Gas cylinder explosions, the sudden release of gaseous fluids and manual injuries upon handling and using gas cylinders have also arisen to the inadequate and improper storing of gas cylinders at the Hopkins Welding Company. The gas cylinders are quite large in size and need to be kept in cool storage areas due to the flammable nature of their contents. The gas cylinders at the Hopkins Welding Company are housed here and there rather than in a spacious and cool storage shed so this in turn has result in gas cylinder explosion and the quick escape of gaseous fluids from the cylinders injuring the people who are involved in the regular handling and use of these gas cylinders (Chertkov et al., 2015).
Due to the lack of proper compressed gas cylinder maintenance and inspection, sudden cylinder explosions have taken place at the Hopkins Welding Center a few times. This in turn has led to large scale fire outbreaks that were immediately controlled using an extensive supply of fire extinguishers. The people who were immediately affected by this hazard were the welders who were using the gas cylinders and also the people who were standing in the vicinity of the gas cylinder outburst. Some of them suffered severe injuries as a result of these explosions that were instantly treated by a team of medical personnel. Apart from the physical pain associated with burn injuries, those who were hurt as a result of the cylinder bursts or explosions have also reported that they were through severe trauma and depression after the terrible experience. Some stayed away from work for several weeks because of the shock and the trauma that was generated as a result of these explosions, and were willing to compromise on their monthly pay in order to ensure their safety for a few days at least at the workplace (Nakayama et al., 2016).
Hazards at Hopkins Welding
The sudden release of gaseous fluids contained in the gas cylinders is also a hazard that has been noted to take place at the Hopkins Welding Center. It was found upon enquiry and investigation that this took place due to the absence of gas cylinder regulatory measures that should ideally be in place to ensure that compress gas and fluid release from the cylinders does not take place frequently. Of course the people that were impacted by this hazard were the people who were working with the cylinders and who were in direct contact with these and also the people who were standing close to the area where the gas cylinders were being used. They had no choice but to come into direct contact with the gas cylinders due to the nature of their work and suffered immensely upon doing so (Soeder et al., 2014).
The gas cylinders in use at Hopkins Welding are those that need to be inspected on an annual basis. If there are specific departments that own gas cylinders and rent these out to the company, then efforts have to be made to get in touch with the department officials and have them come and inspect the gas cylinders for damages and hazards every now and then (Pasman, 2015). Gas cylinders in Sydney are usually owned by prominent gas suppliers who will readily arrange for an annual inspection to be carried out if the necessity for this is communicated to them (Baldisonne et al., 2015).
The regulators should be labeled on the gas cylinders in such a manner that these can be easily identified and matched by individual regulators to their regulation service history. The gas regulators should be subjected to a regular inspection as well as maintenance regime. The regulators on the gas cylinders are those that need to be checked frequently for rating, fitting, type, obvious damage and contamination. Function checks and an overall inspection of the gas cylinder regulators must be carried out annually. Reliable and competent people recommended by manufacturers need to be recruited for providing full inspection and maintenance services for the gas cylinder regulators for at least a period of five years. It is important to note in this respect that some components of a gas cylinder regulatory are likely to deteriorate within less than five years of use, so regular inspection and maintenance is a must (Moore et al., 2014).
The gas cylinders should not be housed inside work rooms. Rather these need to be attached to specific points of use outside the building. It is not always practical or possible to keep the gas cylinders confined to indoor spaces and it is quite dangerous to do so as well. it is also imperative to check whether the right kind of gas is being used for the welding work. Welding and metal fabrication work usually requires the use of shield gases, and using the correct type of gas is necessary if a disaster is to be averted upon its use. Additionally, it needs to be checked that both the gas regulator as well as other types of as equipment are those that are suitable for the type of gas that is being used and the pressure at which the gas is used (Khan et al., 2015).
Inadequate and Improper Cylinder Storage
The gas cylinder needs to be placed in an upright position at the time of being used. This needs to be the norm unless the gas supplier that the gas cylinder should be used from a different angle or position than the upright one. It is best to avoid keeping a gas cylinder positioned in a free standing position. The gas cylinder should be placed in a secure position always if one is to avoid getting injured when using it (Ramirez Camacho et al., 2017).
Every effort needs to be made to avoid using grease and oil over the valves, the regulators and other types of equipment that are connected to the gas cylinder. Using oil and grease over gas cylinder equipment can definitely cause an explosion (Ogunlowo et al., 2015).
During down time, the cylinder valves should be enclosed thoroughly to avoid any unintentional release of gas. It is also important to remember to use gas cylinders for their intended purpose only and not as rollers, props or support that could in turn cause the cylinder damage and which could lead to the cylinder valves opening up. The cylinders and the attachments need to be inspected on a regular basis to make sure that there is no leakage of gas at any point of time (Hardinge et al., 2015).
The gas cylinder stocks should be rotated on a regular basis so that the older gas cylinders are used first and then the new ones. The gas cylinders must also be suitably segregated in a way that these do not pose any danger for those who are using them, especially the welders who need to make use of such cylinders on a regular basis. The oxidizing and flammable gases need to be separated from one another by fire walls or by a distance of at least three meters (Bhandari et al, 2016).
When it comes to the storage of gas cylinders, the empty and full gas cylinders need to be stored far away from each other. The cylinder storage areas need to be adequately ventilated, and should be free from the risk of indirect heating. The gas cylinder storage areas should be well secured too, so as to avoid any kind of unauthorized entry or access to the gas cylinders. The cylinder storage areas need to be well drained so that the cylinders don’t have to sit or lie in water and they should also be kept in the storage areas or sheds in an upright position to keep these from falling over (Qin et al., 2017).
Manual injuries upon using the gas cylinders can be avoided by automating the gas cylinders or by using a mobile hoist or crane when handling the cylinder. The gas cylinder can be easily piped to its point of use to avoid manual injuries from taking place when operating it. Cylinder trolleys should be used for the purpose of safety and those using the gas cylinders on a regular basis for welding work should also consider wearing high quality protective equipment in the form of helmets, gloves and masks that will keep them from coming into contact with poisonous compressed gas. It would also be wise to use smaller cylinders in the place of larger cylinders so as to prevent accidents when using gas cylinders (Field et al., 2014).
Cylinder Maintenance and Inspection
Horizontal cylinders should not be moved by rolling these across the floor as doing so can immediately cause cylinder valves to be opened up. Gas cylinders should ideally be churned over smooth and flat surfaces and that too only for very short distances (Field et al., 2014).
Conclusion
The risk assessment report clearly reveals that the dangers posed by exposure to compressed and liquefied gases at the Hopkins Welding Centre in Sydney are real and must be combated immediately to avoid a mishap. Workers here have been suffering from a long time because of the inadequate inspection and use of gas cylinders and the control measures recommended need to be implemented at the earliest to keep workers safe and secure from the hazards that arise when using cylinders laden with liquefied gas.
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